


whiskers away

by onemyoui



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Domestic, F/F, Fluff, Neighbors, and there is a cat, mina and chaeyoung are neighbors, no plot this is plotless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28639086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onemyoui/pseuds/onemyoui
Summary: “Let’s take you inside…” for Mina’s surprise, the cat doesn’t budge when the woman makes mention to grab it.Instead, the animal purrs and let itself being carried inside the apartment.Or, when Mina finds a stray cat inside her building and wonders if her new neighbor has any clue about it.
Relationships: Myoui Mina/Son Chaeyoung
Comments: 9
Kudos: 123





	whiskers away

**Author's Note:**

> hi, guys.  
> this is a thing i've been trying to write for a while. it was supposed to be a birthday gift for my gf, buuuut things happen and this is being posted a month later.  
> there is really no plot, just mina being a dork around.

Mina is used to be the only source of noise (and life) of the ninth floor; she is the only person living there, the other three apartments empty for as long as she’s arrived at the building, two years ago. Apparently, old buildings with nine floors and no elevators are not so appealing anymore, and she can’t blame people. Climbing nine floors of stairs wasn’t that fun, and sometimes Mina herself wondered _why_ she still lived there.

The lack of possible complainers is the reason of why Mina doesn’t care when one of her grocery bags gives up to the weight of the three milk cartoons in it while she tries to reach for her keys in the very bottom of her purse. She barely gasps when the cartoon basically explodes when it hits the ground, covering the hallway floor with a pool of skimmed milk.

Fortunately, no can actually listens her noises or check on the mess she’s made.

She jumps over the mess and enters her apartment, simply happy to be home after the 2-hour commute (she likes the term “daily trip” better) and a long line at the minimarket near the station. Mina even hums a made-up melody while she drops the rest of her groceries over the counter and pulls a rag from under the kitchen sink to clean the mess outside her door.

It’s Friday, she’s home, nothing can get in the way of her good mood at this point.

She gets rid of her shoes on her way back to the door and stops on her tracks when she notices she has company.

The spilled milk is reduced to almost the half of its amount by the time Mina is back, and an eager cat continues to lick the remains on the floor.

Mina frowns.

She looks around in awe.

A cat?

As far as she knows, pets aren’t allowed in the building – and she tried to sneak a few strays from the street a good amount of times to know about this rule. But there is a very real, a very black cat drinking the spilled milk outside her door, seeming unfazed by her utter shock.

“Hey, kitty?” Mina purrs, squatting until she is facing the cat closely. “What are you doing here?”

As if sensing the aura of someone who is a sucker for cats, the animal looks up. There are tiny drops of milk hanging on the dark fur around its mouth, and the cat proceeds to clean its own mess while looking intently at Mina.

For a moment, the woman thinks the cat’s winked at her.

Mina shakes her head and it’s impossible not to smile back at the chubby, round face that seems so curious.

“Do you like the milk?” She asks, taking tiny steps towards the cat in order to not scare it away. “Let’s take you inside…” for Mina’s surprise, the cat doesn’t budge when the woman makes mention to grab it.

Instead, the animal purrs and let itself being carried inside the apartment, the milk forgotten behind them.

Mina has always dreamed of having a cat – or a dog; at least a company when the days get _way too_ quiet.

Living alone was her option, after years living with roommates during college years, all Mina wanted was privacy and space, _personal_ space.

The old apartment rested on the main street of the Old Town part of the city, with tons of walls made of cute bricks and pubs and flower shops crowding each block. It was Mina’s dream, even though living there means to face two hours in public transportation every day to downtown; yet, she still holds the pleasure of coming to a cute and modern neighborhood every night, away from sirens and trending clubs and people flooding the streets at 2AM in weekdays.

There, she has peace. But – still – no pets are allowed.

So when she brought the black blob of fur inside, she clearly wasn’t thinking all the way through. Somehow, the cat managed to enter the building, and somehow the cat also managed to climb all the stairs up to the ninth floor. Even if the animal found its way up using the fire escape stairs, it was almost impossible to get _into_ the building through them.

Mina is marveled, to say at least, as she sits on her kitchen floor and watches the cat inhale the bowl of warm milk. _Are you a magical cat?_ , she thinks, laughing of her own silliness. If not magical, a very cute cat.

_You look so fat and trimmed to be a stray cat. I wonder where did you come from._

However, the cat looks up with a knowing look.

_Ops, I forgot you can’t talk. But maybe you can tell what I am thinking?_ , she squints her eyes in mocking suspicious of the cat. The animal sticks its tongue out, cleaning what it’s left of milk on its mouth and glares at Mina with a bored look, not interested at all.

_I’m not boring,_ Mina acts offended until she notices she is keeping an imaginary conversation with a cat.

She gets up, taking the now empty bowl of milk to the sink with the black cat following her closely. It sits next to Mina’s naked feet while she washes the bowl, and it looks at her with curious eyes when Mina looks down, hip against the counter. “Now what?”

The cat lets out a cheerful meowing, running past Mina as if it owns the place. She rolls her eyes because, of course, _cats_ , and finds the furry ball making itself a bed on her couch.

“I shouldn’t be doing this…” she hums, a little too soft with all the purring of the black cat. “But you must be tired, so I’ll let you be” Mina whispers, tiptoeing back to the kitchen, leaving the content cat having its rest.

It isn’t hard to decide that the cat can stay, but it is a lot harder to think of a way of keeping her – Mina finds out before going to bed that night that the cat is actually a _she_ – hidden from the landlord of the building. She places a new bowl on her kitchen floor before going to sleep, this time with canned tuna, and gives the cat some scratching behind her ears before going to sleep.

The next morning, Mina knows something is not right.

There is a loud bang somewhere outside her room and Mina wakes up with what she can only assume to be a horrified crying. She shoots herself up in the bed, mind still lost in the haze of sleep, heart pounding fast.

For a whole minute, she forgets that there is another living being in her apartment, but the realization brings her a wave of relief. _It’s just the cat…_

She gets up quickly, not even sliding her feet into her slippers before sprinting to the living room.

The cat is banging her chubby paws against the door, meowing like there’s no tomorrow.

“Hey, kitty, hey” Mina makes a little run to the cat, patting her head in a vain attempt of calming her down. “Do you want to go out?”

She wonders for a minute or two. _If_ she lets the get go out, she may not ever return. But Mina has no heart to keep the cat locked inside her apartment when she sees the huge yellow eyes looking so pleading at her. She nods, unlocking the door with sleepy fingers, barely registering when the cat squeezed her body into the tiny space that Mina has opened.

“Hey!” Mina gasps, looking around for a coat to throw over her pajamas. “Kitty!”

She blames her stupid sleepy brains for open the door so carelessly, groaning as she makes her way out of the apartment only to find the door of apartment number 99 slowly being closed.

She stares, partly shocked, partly in complete disbelief.

_People actually live in apartment 99?!_

She keeps staring, waiting for the door to open again. _Since when?_

The weekend passes by and there is no sign of the cat, or from anyone from apartment 99. Mina even thinks she had imagined things, imagined a black cat that could read minds that ran away inside an empty apartment. But the couple of pictures she sent to her friends showing her new companion were still in her phone and she has no heart to tell Jeongyeon that she lost the cat.

During the whole Saturday, Mina contemplates whether she should go over the next apartment or not.

On Sunday, she decides that she won’t. Whoever lives there didn’t have the trouble of coming by to present themselves or being noticed, even if she lived right on the next door. Plus, she never saw any sign of light coming out from the window next to hers, not even when she took her reading time on the fire escape stairs. So Mina let it be. About the cat… she would find her way back if that’s what she wants to.

She tries to focus on the spreadsheets she brought home for the weekend and ignores the light disappointment when she recalls the cat trying to get out of her apartment that quickly.

It’s on Monday that Mina’s resolution falters.

She has just made to the ninth floor, her breathing a little off pace, when she spots a girl – probably her neighbor – for the first time. She is locking her door, headphones on.

That makes Mina stop almost immediately, like she is watching a wild and rare animal for the first time and doesn’t want to scare it away.

The girl seems a little younger than Mina herself, blond her in a short modern cut tied in a messy half ponytail, eyes covered with makeup, her lips shimmering with some glossy coat. She’s dressed all black, and her huge combat boots were probably giving the girl more inches of height.

“Hi!” Mina almost – but pretty much – screamed when the girl turned around. “I’m Mina, I’m your neighbor!” She kept her volume high, trying to surpass whatever the girl was listening on her phones.

The girl smiles, pointing to her own ears. “These are off” Mina feels her cheeks burning right there, blaming her rusty social skills on that. “I’m Chaeyoung.”

Mina nods, pushing her hair back just to keep her hands busy. She finally takes some steps into the hallway.

“I didn’t know there were new people on the building…?”

“I got here two days ago” the girl says as a matter of fact and they fall into this awkward, dense silence. “So… I need to get going” Chaeyoung has insure eyes and insure voice.

Mina’s smile falters.

“Did you see a cat?” Mina burps out. She can’t contain herself, not when the girl seems to be ready to walk out. It’s been two days since she last saw the cat and she needs to know if her chubby friend is okay.

“A cat?” Chaeyoung rises one single brow. “Here?”

“Yes, a black and chubby cat.”

“I have seen no cat” Chaeyoung states abruptly. “Now, if you excuse me, I’m late for work. See you around.”

Mina thinks she should be offended by how quickly the girl dismissed her.

On Wednesday, Mina gets home to a cat waiting for her by the door.

She runs, giggling, happy and relieved that the cat is back and well, rushing her inside the apartment and looking for the not too shabby stack of canned tuna. The cat eats with mild interest before sprinting on a tour around Mina’s apartment.

“Make yourself home” she pats the soft fur when the cat rolls her tail around Mina’s ankle.

From this day on, there’s this perfect harmony between Mina and the cat.

They stablish their routine – sometimes the cat is waiting for her, sometimes she is not, but she doesn’t spend more than two days without giving Mina a heads up.

Still, Mina doesn’t know where did the cat come from or where she goes everytime she sprints through Mina’s door, even if her senses are screaming to go and take a look on her neighbor next door.

It’s the last Sunday of the month when the mystery thickens.

She had just woke up with the cat meowing on her door, too impatient for getting out to wait for Mina to naturally come out of bed. She covers the path between Mina’s bedroom and the front door at least three times before the woman even gets there, and when she does, the cat walks away with the sassy sway that only a cat could hold.

The cat never walked away so calmly like this before. Mina sticks her head out and watches as the cat happily trails her way to the number 99.

Mina squints her eyes.

_Chaeyoung._

It seems like the door is already open, only waiting for the cat to come in. Soon as the cat vanishes through the door, Mina steps outside.

Only three knocks are necessary to bring Chaeyoung to open the door.

“Hi!”

“Mina” she says, looking at Mina from head to toe in a blunt, if not rude, kind of way. “Good morning?”

“Good morning, Chaeyoung” Mina tries to look as nonchalant as possible while peeking over Chaeyoung’s shoulder. The only thing she can spot is a couch with a multicolored quilt resting on top of it while the morning light is blasting through the large old windows. “Have you seen a cat?”

Chaeyoung’s brows deepen into a confused frown.

“No…” she says, and Mina can swear she hears something behind Chaeyoung’s voice. “You know pets aren’t allowed in this building, right?”

“I know, but…” Mina gives up and sighs. Either Chaeyoung was bluntly lying to her face, or Mina’s been imagining this black cat for the last weeks. Either way, she can’t risk telling Chaeyoung about the cat and have the landlord inspecting all the corners of the building after the little ball of fur. “Never mind.”

Chaeyoung sustain her gaze, looking for something else on Mina’s face and Mina feels like she is looking at a mirror, because she is also trying to find any trace of dishonesty in the girl’s large eyes. They both call a silent truce, and Chaeyoung’s eyes even get softer on the corners.

“Did you have breakfast?”

“What?”

“I asked if you had breakfast” only then Mina notices that Chaeyoung is holding her keys and there’s a little purse crossing the front of her body. It’s a neon green tiny purse, something a teen that it’s too much into fashion would wear, but if fits Chaeyoung in some sort of way. Still, she is all covered in black clothes, but this time there are worn out white Converses on her feet, the combat boots nowhere to be seen. “I’m going to this bakery across the street, they have the best croissant.”

Mina opens and closes her mouth like a fish. It sounded like an invitation.

“Croissant sounds nice” she nods, still confused with the sudden change of plans. She still had a cat to chase… _At least she thinks she does._

“Uh, isn’t too cold for pajamas?” Chaeyoung calmly says, not looking at Mina while locking the door.

The opposite of cold is what is burning on Mina’s cheeks. She was really about to go outside wearing her Tim – the teddy bear! – pajamas.

Even if it’s too late for this, Mina shyly covers herself and tells Chaeyoung to wait for her.

She has never visited that bakery, not even once. It is true that the place is always starting to open for the day by the time Mina passes by hurriedly on her way to work; she may have noticed once or twice the amazing smell that fills up the street, the scent of fresh buttery bread and rich coffee acting like a lure for the hungry workers awaken at 6:30 in the morning. Not Mina, who had a perfectly efficient coffee room at her office, where the coffee was kind of bland but it would work perfectly fine for her.

Mina knows she’s been missing something when they cross the entrance of the bakery and suddenly they’re engulfed by warmth and a swirl of different smells. Everything is gold and yellow inside the bakery, the walls covered with displays showing off different types of bread and pastries.

Although she is quite small, Chaeyoung walks like someone who owns the place. She slaps the counter, being much noisier than Mina would consider appropriated. She eyes Chaeyoung with surprise and warning.

However, the only worker at the moment, a pale girl with a cute apron around her thin waist, turns around with a blinding smile.

“Look who’s here!” she cleans her hands on the apron, her smile still bright and gentle. “Same as always?”

“Make it two” Chaeyoung points at Mina as a kid points to their annoying friend. “Mina, this is Dahyun. Dahyun, this is my neighbor.”

“Is Chaeyoungie already making new friends?” Dahyun coos and Mina can’t help but smile at the way the girl pouts while talking to Chaeyoung.

“Can’t you just do your job?”

“I can, but what’s the fun with that?” They exchange a loaded look that lasts a few seconds before Dahyun is back with her smiley self. “What would you like to drink, Mina?”

“Uh” she roams her eyes over the huge board hanging on the wall over Dahyun’s head. A long list of drinks and coffees and specials that makes Mina dizzy. Does anyone drink regular coffee… ever? She turns to Chaeyoung in seek of help. “What do you usually drink?”

“Strawberry milk from the kid’s menu” Dahyun mumbles while she fixes two huge croissants in two separate paper bags.

“Stick to your job!” Chaeyoung chides and Mina swears the girl is sulking. “Their Americano is good, if you like simple things” she completes, back to the serious tone Mina already knows.

“One Americano and one strawberry milk?” Dahyun slides back to the register.

“Two Americano” Chaeyoung shots daggers with her eyes. 

“I can understand why you were promoting this” Mina points to her half eaten croissant with devotion in her eyes. “This is the best breakfast I have in ages.”

Chaeyoung chuckles. There are golden flakes stuck in the corner of her lips but she doesn’t seem to mind them.

They’re sitting on a bench outside the bakery and the slightly chill air of the morning is causing little puffs of steam to come out from their mouths as they speak. Fortunately, they have huge cups of coffee to fight the cold back.

Mina tries, but she can’t remember having breakfast sitting on a bench in the middle of the street like this. It’s not bad.

“I could say I do this for Dahyun, but I would be lying. It’s totally because of the croissants” she happily takes another bite of her destroyed pastry.

Mina hums, savoring the butter hidden among the layers of flaky dough.

She thinks about Dahyun and her aura full of mirth. She couldn’t keep the count of how many inside jokes she threw at Chaeyoung while they were inside the shop, or how many times she spotted Chaeyoung’s ears getting red with all the bickering.

Mina thinks it’s endearing, whatever the relationship those two has.

“Is she your girlfriend?”

The question hangs in the air and Mina is surprised with her own unstoppable curiosity.

“Why, do you want her number?” Chaeyoung looks at her with her mouth clear of crumbles, but with a knowing smirk on her face. For the first time Mina notices that she has dimples.

“W-what… No…”

“I’m kidding!” Chaeyoung laughs with her whole body. “Not the confident gay type, are you?”

“Gay t-type?” Mina catches herself without breath.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was just guessing…”

“No, no, no. It’s okay. You… You’re not wrong” Mina hides herself behind her steaming cup of coffee as soon as she can. It felt weird to talk about this with someone she barely knew – it felt weird to talk about this with most people, Mina thinks. But Chaeyoung seems good at reading people and there is no point on hiding herself. “I guess I am more like the disastrous gay type?”

Chaeyoung smiles, her dimple making itself present again.

“It’s okay, I think there’s hope for you” she gives Mina little pats over the knee, and the latter feels the tiny sparks of electricity turning into warmth once Chaeyoung’s hand is gone. “Dahyun is my best friend since… ever? She was the one who told me about this apartment, actually.”

They fall into an easy conversation about how each one of them ended up there, moving on to funny stories about Chaeyoung’s friendship with Dahyun until they ran out of coffee and the croissants were long gone.

When Chaeyoung waved Mina good bye and walked to the opposite direction of their building, Mina thought she wouldn’t mind of having more mornings like this.

That night Mina dreams about cats and her neighbor.

In her dream, Chaeyoung has cat-like eyes and asks for a bowl of warm milk after knocking on her door.

When Mina wakes up, too early to have any clear thoughts at all, she thinks it’s not coincidental that her brain is mixing Chaeyoung and cats altogether.

That Monday, Mina makes a quick stop on her way to the station.

The bakery is open, and the air is warm and cozy and Mina orders the same thing from yesterday; Dahyun is nowhere to be seen. She drinks her coffee as her train roams its way towards downtown, tapping her feet against the metal floor, noticing that the coffee makes her body comfortably warm inside the cold metal box.

Instead of thinking about the cat – or the absence of the cat that morning – she thinks about Chaeyoung on her way to work.

Tuesday is usually the day Mina uses to get a quick restock of her fridge and cabinets that will last until Friday. She is scanning the canned food section with critical eyes, trying to imagine what the cat would like the best. Maybe she should try canned mackerel instead of tuna this time.

She needs to make a good impression, the cat’s visits are becoming rare and her stays are short lived.

She drops five cans on her basket, feeling sure about her choice, and moves to the next item on her mental list.

Soon Mina finds herself looking at cold drinks, more specifically to the small row of cooled strawberry milk. Chaeyoung hasn’t really showed up ever since they had their breakfast time on Sunday, and Mina is slowly being consumed by the urge of thanking her for the nice time. She remembers how flustered her neighbor’s gotten when Dahyun teased her about the strawberry milk, and how overused was the topic between the two best friends until they finally left the shop.

Even if it was a joke, Mina is sure Chaeyoung enjoys the drink for real.

Her hand ghosts over the cartoon, wondering, pondering.

“Are you taking that?”

Mina stumbles to the side when a pointy hip makes contact with her own on a playful bump. Chaeyoung looks smug. And close.

“Didn’t take you as a strawberry milk enthusiast, Mina” she shakes the small cartoon that is now on her hand, closing the fridge’s door.

“It’s like you’re a mind reader” Mina whispers to herself, almost sure Chaeyoung couldn’t hear her. Shoulders falling in disappointment as she faces a nice surprise being ruined, Mina shakes her head. “I was planning on buying that for you.”

“Weh? For me?” There is no enough room for Chaeyoung’s eyebrows when she shoots them up in surprise.

Mina feels like invisible spotlights are pointing at her in that narrow, artificially illuminated minimarket’s row. “You were so nice to me that day, I mean, when you bought me coffee. And Dahyun said–”

“Ah, yes, I know what she said” There’s a slight roll of eyes when Chaeyoung dismisses the fact with her had. She chuckles. “Are you flirting with me? You know an _actual_ drink could make a stronger impression.”

“I’m not flirting!” Mina almost chokes with the huge gasp of air she takes in. _This is embarrassing._ “ _This_ is not flirting” she states once more, hearing the tingling of the cans that shake violently on her basket because she can’t stop moving her hands around. ‘Plus, it’s _Tuesday._ No one have drinks on Tuesdays.”

There must be something very amusing, because Chaeyoung supports a very cheeky, very dimpled grin. “This may be your lucky day, because I am definitely going to a place that has drinks on Tuesdays.”

That’s how Mina ends up walking side to side with Chaeyoung up the street. Her arms are busy with a paper bag full of canned mackerel while Chaeyoung drinks her strawberry milk – which she didn’t let Mina pay for.

There are a hundred million questions going through Mina’s head at that moment. Like where are they going, why is Chaeyoung going to a bar on a Tuesday at 6PM, _why is Mina going along with her?_ But she eats down her own questions because Chaeyoung doesn’t seem the type of person who gets worried easily. She walks next to Mina with a relaxed sass and Mina adds to her list of questions: _how Chaeyoung has such a nice shoulder line when she walks like a skater boy trying to be cool_?

“What’s up with the canned fish?” Chaeyoung asks when she runs out of milk.

“It’s for my c–” Mina shuts her mouth as soon as she starts talking. “I can’t tell you.”

‘Nice saving” she rolls her eyes. Mina is starting to understand that this might be a habit of her neighbor, and not just a random rude gesture she sports all the time. “Come on, you can tell me” Chaeyoung finds a specific tickly spot somewhere in the middle of Mina’s ribcage.

“S-Stop! What!” Mina gasps, jumpy when she feels the slim fingers attacking her body. She takes at least five steps in the opposite direction, escaping from Chaeyoung’s reach with bright cheeks and a shocked expression. “Is this _your_ way of flirting?”

“Oh, I am not flirting with you, Mina” Chaeyoung shakes her head and a sweet smile hovers her mouth. “Not until you tell me if you’re this obsessed with canned fish.”

A laugh bubbles inside Mina’s chest. She makes her way back closer to Chaeyoung, and that sort of sits right with her. “I am not obsessed with canned fish.”

“Great! You can buy me a drink now!”

They stop in front a typical pub, right on the corner of the street. The wooden doors are open, giving away how the inside of the bar looks like– although it’s all made of dark wood at some extent, there are beautiful yellow lamps hanging over the whole extent of the bar’s counter, lighting the big room with a relaxing glow.

Chaeyoung takes the lead, meandering through the tables, finding a way around the counter. Mina, who has been looking at a specifically comfortable boot at the far back of the place, looks alarmed when Chaeyoung waves from behind the bar.

“I don’t think this is how bars work, Chaeyoung” she looks around, but the only other person presents there is a guy wearing a black apron who doesn’t seem interested on them or who is behind the counter.

Chaeyoung chuckles, her dimples seeming a little deeper when the lights hit her like that. She then retrieves an apron from behind the counter, lacing the piece of fabric with expert hands around her narrow waist. “That’s how it works when you actually _work_ in a bar.”

“Ah…” Mina hears her own engines working, her brain putting pieces together.

Chaeyoung working there makes sense (not only because Chaeyoung is behind the counter, picking two tall pint glasses from the shelf behind her). Mina can count on her fingers the amount of times she’s found Chaeyoung in their building, even though they lived right next door. This would perfectly explain how their schedules could be so out of sync. She tells Chaeyoung so as she takes a seat on one of high stools.

Chaeyoung sighs, cleaning the two glasses with a perfectly white cloth. “I wasn’t supposed to work here during weekdays, I have a doctor degree to get, but they always need some extra hand, and I guess I have pretty good hands.”

Mina feels stupid for looking down at Chaeyoung’s hands. She shakes her head, trying to focus on what really matters. “Really? A doctorate?”

“Beer?” Chaeyoung points to the different beer dispensers. Mina can’t be more lost than that, and Chaeyoung takes her silence as an agreement, pouring beer from one of the pipes into the pints. “And yes, probably within a year I will be a doctor.”

Chaeyoung places the two pints over the counter, the rich brown beer was cold enough to make the glass sweats. She takes a small sip and tries hard to not make the _what-the-hell-is-going-on_ face.

However, the chit chat between both of them is enough of an excuse for Mina to forget her beer, that turns lukewarm over the counter. She sees herself surprisingly interested on Chaeyoung’s vast academic life. The night falls down and rolls on between gasps (mostly from Mina’s part, mostly because Chaeyoung had a great story to tell) and laughter. From time to time Chaeyoung would walk away to attend the patrons that would come and go during the night, and sometimes Chaeyoung would talk to them, seeming to be friends with more people than less.

Mina not only admires Chaeyoung, but the place, the people around her, enjoying the relaxing music the fills the air, the general sound of people laughing and talking.

She feels good, and that is the second night she dreams about Chaeyoung.

On Wednesday, Mina wakes up with her bell ringing.

It’s unusual, especially before 6AM in the morning. She rushes out from her room, almost tripping over her own couch until she gets to the door. She is waiting for something tragic or maybe a fire in their building, but it’s just Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung, holding a paper bag.

“Good morning, you forgot your canned” she peeks inside the bag for a brief moment, “mackerel.”

Like a bolt, reality hits Mina. Chaeyoung, canned mackerel, she forgot the bag at the bar last night. And then it hits her this is the second time Chaeyoung sees her in her Tim pajamas.

“Chaeyoung, it’s really early, you didn’t have to” she accepts the bag anyways, the cans jiggling inside.

“It’s okay, I just got back from my morning run” she shrugs. Mina then remembers about what Chaeyoung told her. She gets home late at night, and stays up catching with her research until it’s daytime. “Is it… too early for _you_?”

“No!” Mina’s voice is on a higher register than she expected. “No, I was about to get up. Do… do you want some coffee?”

Later that day Jeongyeon tells Mina that her face looks weird. It was probably because of all the smiling.

“Damn, you really like tuna” Mina whispers, watching the cat basically inhaling the whole can in one go.

She found out the cat wasn’t so much into mackerel and it takes some weeks for Mina to gain her trust back. Still, every time Mina opened a can, the cat would analyze its content carefully before jumping into it.

Two months. It’s been two months and the cat still hasn’t make Mina’s house as her own house. She got the cat a station – a beautiful cat tower with three different beds and a fun set of stairs that the cat seems to love, but not enough to _stay_. She bribed the cat with expensive tuna and cat food, a huge litter box, little toys in different shapes, but nothing was enough to please her.

She pats the dark fur and groans in frustration. “I just want to know where do you live, kitty.”

The cat perks up her ears and looks at Mina from behind her food. Mina feels like the cat is talking to her, but she still doesn’t understand her language.

“Well, you seem like one lucky cat” she lowers down enough to plant a kiss on the top of the cat’s head.

It’s late at night of a Saturday and Mina has been roaming around her apartment, cleaning and organizing – and listening. For the last two months, she got used to stay up a little (very) late on weekends, only because Chaeyoung stablished the habit of coming home with a pack of cold beers and knock on Mina’s door. They would drink at the rooftop, under the clear sky when there was one. Their legs would be up, feet crossed against the wall, and they would be laying down on Chaeyoung’s multicolored quilt.

They talked a lot, about a lot of things, and Mina has learned how to talk and drink her beer at the same time.

Chaeyoung was almost easy going, she was all about strong opinions delivered with soft voice and dimples. She had ambition but she wasn’t greedy, she was an artist but she also enjoined being a bartender. Her clothes weren’t all black as Mina thought either, and her hair was in a constant change of color.

The nights were silent when Chaeyoung wasn’t around, usually on weekdays. Mina also has learned that the cat was an extremely good companion, and she was always there when Mina was alone.

It’s like the cat also didn’t have a company for her own.

Mina checks the time on her phone, her heart speeding up when she notices it’s getting late and soon she would be hearing the tingling of bottle beers outside her door.

But it’s a loud bang followed by several tragic noises that startles Mina as soon as she sits on her couch.

She runs to the kitchen, finding the cat desperately trying to get out of her sink. Her sink full of water, where her dishes where soaking moments before and now they are just a shattered memory of a tableware.

“Kitty!”

Mina runs to the bathroom, catching the first towel she sees on her way and running back to the kitchen.

Removing the cat from her unwanted bathtub is harder than Mina expected, and she needs to look out for the angry claws that cut the air as she lifts the black cat from the water as they did to Simba, in The Lion King movie.

She wraps the soaked blob of black fur, laughing her nerves off when the cat finally starts to calm down – and so does she. To think the worst could have happened to the precious cat makes Mina squish the chubby animal against her chest.

“What were you doing over the counter? Did you want more tuna?!” Mina asks in mocked surprise, knowing pretty well the wild nature of her visitor.

She sits on the couch, this time holding the cat as close as a baby, and starts to dry her fur the best she can with the towel.

There’s a loud knock on her door, followed by the tingling of bottle beers.

Mina perks up and so does the cat.

Chaeyoung knocks again and Mina groans.

She leaves the cat to dry herself out, silently praying for eight different gods that the cat doesn’t make any move or shows up on the door.

“Hi– Woah! Is everything okay?” Chaeyoung’s smile falls when she notices Mina’s situation.

In fact, Mina didn’t even notice before that her shirt is basically soaked and so are the tips of her hair. “I had problems in the kitchen” she sighs and she is about to close the door behind her when she hears it.

The cat comes to the door in a trot, her meowing is loud and whiny, as if she is complaining about her whole situation.

Blood leaves Mina’s face and her hands run instantly cold. The cat is there, in front of them, and Chaeyoung is looking at the cat with huge eyes.

_That’s it,_ Mina thinks, _Chaeyoung is going to hand us to the landlord_.

But instead of questioning Mina about the – forbidden – presence of a cat in her apartment, Chaeyoung only lowers down, putting the beers aside, knees on the floor and arms reached out until the cat jumps right into her embrace.

“Sola, what happened to you?” Chaeyoung coos, not caring about the wet animal soaking her own clothes. The cat meows again, looking straight into Chaeyoung’s eyes and Mina feels like she is witnessing a private conversation. “Why are you all wet? Mina, why is Sola all wet?”

Chaeyoung turns to Mina with the cat in her arms. Mina blinks, not once, not twice, but several times. “S-Sola?” She shakes her head to help her brain put the pieces together. _Sola?_ “Sola?”

“Ugh, I need to blow her dry right now, I don’t want her to catch a cold or something” she turns and walk towards her door. “Can you grab the beers, please?”

“So, she is _your_ cat? And her name is _Sola_?” Mina swears this is the last time she asks these questions.

It seems unreal.

The three of them are on Chaeyoung’s couch, over the multicolored quilt. Sola is fully dry now, her fur is a shiny black coat as she snuggles her way in between Mina and Chaeyoung. They both have their legs up, finding comfort in Chaeyoung’s worn out couch that night.

It’s like they are making a warm nest for Sola.

“Yes, and yes” Chaeyoung pats the cat’s round head with affection, playing with the tiny ears for a while.

“Why you didn’t tell me? I asked you about this cat like… hundreds of times” Mina is in pure, utter shock. Not only Chaeyoung was able to lie to her that well, but also she kept Sola hidden from Mina all this time.

She scoffs, but Chaeyoung only giggles. “I thought you were trying to find it out so you could tell the landlord, and I like to have a roof over our heads” she sighs, looking up at Mina. “But then I noticed that every time I left to take the trash out, she would room to your apartment. And since then, it was easy to connect the dots. I never saw someone buying so much canned fish at once” she wiggles her brows and Mina feels warm.

There is a lot to think, but Mina can only feel happiness and relief when she looks at cozy Sola sleeping on the couch.

Thinking in retrospect, Mina was dumb. Or maybe, deep down, she already knew Sola belonged to Chaeyoung, but admitting that fact to her it was like finding an excuse to send Sola away. And she liked the cat around way too much to just retrieve her to her rightful owner every time she stopped by for visiting.

“Weren’t you mad? I practically stole your cat” _or tried too,_ Mina thinks.

Chaeyoung shrugs, laying her head on the couch and looking at Mina with peaceful large eyes. “She seemed happy. And you seemed happy.”

“That’s… that’s nice of you” there is a warm touch over Mina’s fingers. She looks down and sees Chaeyoung slowly covering her hand with her own, both meeting among Sola’s soft fur. Mina gasps, low and surprised. “You have a lovely cat” Mina’s voice is strangled and she can’t pick up her gaze from their intertwined fingers.

Chaeyoung chuckles. “She got fat. Your canned tuna must be really nicer than mine.”

It’s her time to chuckle, and Mina finally looks up. Her breath gets caught up in her throat when she looks at Chaeyoung’s eyes. Bright, black, intense, looking at her, not blinking at once. It is enough to bring Mina to her weird thoughts zone, where she allows herself to admit that Chaeyoung is really pretty, that she smells like strawberry baby shampoo, that the mole under her mouth is extremely attractive. It’s hard to come back to herself after wandering for so many minutes over the pretty land that’s Chaeyoung face, and she does with a small cough. “She is high maintenance. I was trying to make her stay.”

“It must be nice” Chaeyoung whispers, locking her eyes on Mina’s lips.

Mina doesn’t know how, but Chaeyoung is impossibly close now. Maybe it’s because her own body slid down the couch, head also laying on the back cushion, mirroring Chaeyoung. She wants to ask “ _What is it nice?”_ but the silent seems a necessity now.

Chaeyoung smiles, it’s a small and soft smile that drags Mina’s eyes to it. She is thinking how soft Chaeyoung’s lips look, how it would be if she just leaned on and kiss her, to taste what she’s been imagining for a while now. But then Chaeyoung puts Mina’s thoughts into action.

Warm, soft lips are pressed against Mina’s mouth in a light kiss. They are barely brushing lips against each other, but Mina already feels her body tugging into different directions. It’s electrifying and hot, the way Chaeyoung advances by cupping her cheek with her hand, thumb caressing Mina’s cheekbone, fingers diving into her hair. She wants more, so she sinks into Chaeyoung’s touch and kiss, testing the smooth texture of her mouth, savoring her taste.

Maybe they are too caught in the act, and maybe it’s too much because Sola is suddenly moving, jumping over the back of the couch with a whiny meow.

The girls finally disconnect their lips, and Mina feels her cheeks burning under Sola’s disgusted gaze.

Chaeyoung sighs, licking her own lips with a disoriented expression. “We’re gonna need that fancy tuna you bought her if we want to distract Sola the next time.”

Mina’s nerves get dissolved into a puddle of warmth.

Eventually, they will talk about that kiss – and about the many other the happened later that night, and the following night, and the following…


End file.
